Colonialism in British Literature

Paper Summary:

This paper presents illustrations of the British concept of colonialism from E. M. Forster's "A Passage to India", Elizabeth Nunez' "Prospero's Daughter", Khushwant Singh's "Train to Pakistan" and William Shakespeare's play "The Tempest". The paper focusses on E.M. Forster's work and points out how his novel shows that the colonial relationships are highly subjective and contextual and that the colonial power does not have real cultural access to the feelings and the meanings of the culture upon which it is impinging. The paper indicates that this same theme is repeated in the other examples.

From the Paper:

"The narrow view of Shakespeare's famous play of colonization is explicitly questioned in Elizabeth Nunez's novel "Prospero's Daughter". There, the mad scientist Dr. Gardner takes over the native orphan boy Carlos' land and falsely accuses him, as the boy comes of age and can lay claim to his property, of raping Gardner's daughter Virginia. Gardener uses this as justification for his taking possession of everything Carlos owns. He even uproots the life-giving native fruit trees crops because they take away from the beauty of his transplanted soil and grass."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Forster, E. M. A Passage to India. Harvest Books, 1965.
• Nunez, Elizabeth. Prospero's Daughter. Ballantine, 2006.
• Singh, Khushwant. Train to Pakistan. Grove Press, 1994.
• Shakespeare, William. "The Tempest." Shakespeare Homepage. May 16, 2008. http://shakespeare.mit.edu/tempest/index.html

More papers on Colonialism in British Literature:

• Comparison Essay # 128021 : "Colonialism as Depicted in Victorian Literature"
• Essay # 138035 : "British Children, Colonial India & Literature."
• Article Review # 141037 : "Culture Within The British Empire"

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